Jasper advanced rapidly, but noiselessly, to the canoe,
and with a gentle violence induced Mabel to place
herself in such an attitude as concealed her entire
body, though it would have probably exceeded his means
to induce the girl so far to lower her head that she
could not keep her gaze fastened on their enemies.
He then took his own post near her, with his rifle
cocked and poised, in readiness to fire. Arrowhead
and Chingachgook crawled to the cover, and lay in
wait like snakes, with their arms prepared for service,
while the wife of the former bowed her head between
her knees, covered it with her calico robe, and remained
passive and immovable. Cap loosened both his
pistols in their belt, but seemed quite at a loss
what course to pursue. The Pathfinder did not
stir. He had originally got a position where
he might aim with deadly effect through the leaves,
and where he could watch the movements of his enemies;
and he was far too steady to be disconcerted at a moment
so critical.

It was truly an alarming instant. Just as Mabel
touched the shoulder of her guide, three of the Iroquois
had appeared in the water, at the bend of the river,
within a hundred yards of the cover, and halted to
examine the stream below. They were all naked
to the waist, armed for an expedition against their
foes, and in their warpaint. It was apparent
that they were undecided as to the course they ought
to pursue in order to find the fugitives. One
pointed down the river, a second up the stream, and
the third towards the opposite bank. They evidently
doubted.

CHAPTER V

Death is here and death is there,
Death is busy everywhere. Shelley

It was a breathless moment. The only clue the
fugitives possessed to the intentions of their pursuers
was in their gestures and the indications which escaped
them in the fury of disappointment. That a party
had returned already, on their own footsteps, by land,
was pretty certain; and all the benefit expected from
the artifice of the fire was necessarily lost.
But that consideration became of little moment just
then; for the party was menaced with an immediate
discovery by those who had kept on a level with the
river. All the facts presented themselves clearly,
and as it might be by intuition, to the mind of Pathfinder,
who perceived the necessity of immediate decision
and of being in readiness to act in concert.
Without making any noise, therefore, he managed to
get the two Indians and Jasper near him, when he opened
his communications in a whisper.